post-consumerism

Empire State of Mind (Environment)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

I have probably played way to much Magic: The Gathering and other fantasy based games growing up my friends, because I always want to equate myself with a particular element of nature and just run in the general direction of that thing to better equip myself for the stresses of life. According to astrology and palmistry fire seems like the natural choice, while other personality tests and chinese zodiac results lead to that of the earth. So I guess that means I’m geared for the life of the country AND the city, but not so much high up or near water.

Whatever that means.

To be honest I think that we should make decisions about our physical environment based upon our interests and what inspires us. So if you need to be out in nature in order to be creative, do so, and what that natural environment looks like to you is also relevant, then seek it out.

Today, we go over the importance of your habitat, climate, scenery, terrain or surroundings.

Your Friendly Neighbourhood

That’s right friends, a new month,  a new post inspired by the OECD index which I was initially led to in the first place by the folks at Post Consumers. But this time dear readers, I have decided to focus on the importance of environment for artists and give you some options to consider in your quest towards health, wealth, and happiness. Because while frugality and conservation of resources are important for the planet, your mental space needs to be taken into account too.

Yes, believe it or not, if you look out for yourself and a lot of other things begin to fall into place.

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But what does that look like, you ask?

Well, like anything in life that depends on what you are about. So why don’t I give you the rundown of some things to consider, via a handy list, and you can decide for yourself if you’re on the right track to health, wealth, and happiness.

Welcome To New York, It’s Been Waiting For You

Before we get too far along, I need to clarify something. While I do think that New York city is a great place to live, and while my subject headings in this post so far are really hinting at NYC as a one stop shop, that’s just not true. And no, I’m not leading you towards Los Angeles either.

Instead I want you to look over some questions and the corresponding key words, and think on what kind of creative professional you need to be. All of these factors will help lead you towards an answer, and lead you towards creating a sustainable lifestyle.

  1. Is it important to you to attend parties? Think street parties, exhibitions, murals, fairs, and citywide events.
  2. What about a structured living situation? This could include open-concept loft apartments, industrial towns, and attending art museums as well as galleries.
  3. Does the place you live in need to be warm all the time? A daily does of street performers, dancing, food eaten outdoors, curbside coffee shops, and urban graffiti go a long way.
  4. Could you experience a wide variety of activities and room for contemplation? Where does live music, onsite food trucks, post-secondary education, libraries or urban sprawl fit in?
  5. Would economic stability be essential? If you like quirky shops, breweries, cheap rent, and post-grad couture.
  6. How organic is your palette? Farm-to-table, organic groceries, yoga, countryside views… Do those terms grab your attention?
  7. Are you inspired by other mediums? If film, audio recording, performance, and site specific works are your thing, consider your location.
  8. Does interacting with your immediate space matter? For when you need to make guerilla art, partake in festivals, induce public art participation, and convert odd spaces.
  9. When do you choose to collaborate? Artist run centres, art collectives, creative clubs, and meet-ups are all options.
  10. Who do you collaborate with? Whether musicians, hippies, hipsters, scensters, hip-hop lovers, electronic record spinners, cowpokes , entrepreneurs, writers, theatre artists, photographers, and techies all have their homes too…

While not comprehensive, these are all great factors to consider in the much larger picture that is the artistic environment which you call home. I can dedicate a lot of time to any number of these aspects, but you need to start somewhere after all.

theories Summarized

Well creative cuties, have you got your terrain locked down yet? I hope you spend some time with this one because we all need to work in spaces which are inspiring, comfortable and accessible. Like so many of these themes that tie into the OECD, environment has value. It may be my theory, but it should be yours too. That’s it for now, I’ll see you tomorrow with a timely update.

Tim!

 

Your Weight In Gold (Postconsumers)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

We live in an age where most people in western society have more than enough. If you really stop to think about it, all we require to live is air, water, food, and shelter – everything else is unessential.

Now, many people would argue that the standard of living in Canada dictates what is enough to get by. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Better Life Index, the average Canadian household brings in $40,000 net each year. Which is slightly higher than the OECD average of $38,000 CAD.

Wellness Factors of Life

I for instance, am just below the national average all on my lonesome. But that’s not a clear indicator of excess. Where you live, what you eat, and how you spend the rest of your money will be a contributing factor in your lifestyle of choice. And let’s be perfectly honest, whether you are a creative professional or not, but definitely someone who is in the midst of the hustle, pursuing their passions with the intent of making a living at it, you will definitely feel the pinch associated with living below the standard of living most enjoy. But what happens when you start to “make it?”

To give it even more consideration – where you rank housing, income, jobs, community, education, environment, governance, health, life satisfaction, safety, and work-life balance in that beautiful mix that we call living are big factors. And they vary from country to country.

When you begin to ask these questions for yourself, you’ll get a better idea of what you should be doing as a creative professional to live in health and wellness. And in fact, these themes just might be the beginnings of an area of exploration for timotheories readers in the coming months.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves friends.

Right now I want to focus on the concept of living with enough. Much like the spiritual concept of being enough, living with enough is important for you to stay on the creative path and block out the white noise of life.

The Path To Post-consumerism

I want to introduce the concept of post-consumerism. Post-consumer waste is that which comes after a consumer of a material stream, Wikipedia’s words, not mine. Examples include, but are not limited to, packaging, fruit skins, meat bones, dust, weeds, outgrown toys, feces, clothing, advertising materials.

In other words, it is the garbage that people discard: the stuff that ends up in the dump, poured down the drain or thrown away as litter.

Now postconsumers.com is a website that addresses the concept of post-consumerism in a practical way. The practice of purchasing as a form of therapy, the media machine, feeling love for objects, are all topics that Postconsumers tackles on the regular. Quite frankly, people can very easily become addicted to consumerism and it will have negative impacts on their health, communities, and satisfaction. And we haven’t even considered how it impacts education, environment, jobs, housing, income, and governance.

So my first question for you dear sweet readers is this – are you falling into the vice-grip that is an identity determined by your things?

Seriously though, do you think that brands are important? What about trends and styles? And hello, have you considered that vacuous hole in your life yet? The one where you think having more of something will make you more important or “better.”

Think on these things my friends, as we begin the journey of exploring what that can mean as a creative professional. For now, I’m out of theories, and also a little weighed down. Might need to shed some couture.

Tim!